Bike Registration photo provided by Decatur Police Sgt. Jennifer Ross.

The Decatur Police Department is encouraging residents to register their bicycles after noticing an uptick in bike thefts around the city.

According to Decatur Police Lt. Jennifer Ross, there have been 77 reported cases of bicycle thefts since the beginning of the year.

“There has been a noticeable increase in bicycle thefts since Aug. 1, 2015,” Ross said. “During this time there have been 38 bicycles stolen, nine from the north side of Decatur and 29 from the south side of Decatur. Of the 38 stolen bicycles, 18 had been secured with some sort of locking mechanism, nine were unsecured and 11 were stolen during a burglary of a garage or shed. There were 19 bicycle thefts during night time hours, 11 during the day, and eight with a multi-day time frame. The majority of the thefts have occurred in the Oakhurst and Winnona Park neighborhoods.”

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Ross said police only received serial numbers for seven of the stolen bicycles. Police recommend keeping a record of the serial number, brand and model in order to aid in recovery of the stolen property.

“Serial numbers for bicycles are most often stamped into the bottom of the frame or on a small metal placard on the bottom of the frame,” Ross said. “Serial numbers are important because police can only enter stolen articles onto the national database if we are provided with the serial number for the item stolen.”

The Police Department also holds regular bicycle registration events.

The next event is Friday, Oct. 7, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Columbia Theological Seminary located at 701 South Columbia Drive in Decatur. Officers will be in the parking lot off of Kirk Road under a blue tent, Ross said.